Fruit-cleaner.



F. STEBLER.

FRUIT CLEANER.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 20. 1907 Patented July 20, 1909.

3SHEETS-SHEET l F. STEBLER. FRUIT CLEANER. APPLICATION FILEDMAR.20,1907.

928,559. Patented July 20. 1909.

3 SHEETS-BHEET 2 1 I J. f

P. STEBLER. FRUIT CLEANER.

APPLICATION FILED MAB.20, 1907. 928,559. Patented July 20, 1909.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

FRED STEBLER, OF RIVERSIDE, CALIFORNIA.

FRUIT-CLEANER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented uly 29, 1909'.

Application filed March 20, 1 07. Serial No. 363,516.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRED STEBLER, a citizen of the United States,esiding at River'- side, in the county of Riverside and State ofCalifornia, have invented a. new and useful Fruit-Gleaner, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to fruit cleaners of the class wherein the fruitis carried forward between brushes and is subjected to cleaning actionby the brushes.

The main object of the invention is to provide to; tleetively presslngthe fruit against the brushes, or the brushes against the fruit, equallyand uniformly on large and small fruit to insure thorough cleaning.

Another object of the invention is to control the amount of silchpressure.

A further object of the invention is to provide for cleaning andbrushing fruit tl'ioroi'ighly, irrespective of sizeor shape.

It isa well known fact that many fruits, such as oranges, accumulatemore dust and dirt at their tapering and irregular stein ends than at.other portions, and in passing such fruit between cleaning brushes,there 's a tendencyfor the fruit to rotate on its portion of smallestdiameter so that the more projecting and irregular portions whichrequire cleaning the most, are kept away from the brushes.

The object of my invent-ion in this connection is to bring all portionsof the fruit in Contact with the brushes, so that thesteni or irregularportions are cleaned as etl'ectively as the rounder portions.

ljhe invention comprises a longitudinallytraveling' conveyer on whichthe fruit is carried and deflecting brush means extending obliquely tothe path of movement of said conveyer and by which the fruit is brushedand directed against a vertically disposed brush, means for brushing theends of the fruit.

The invention further comprises brush means above the fruit-carryingconveyer to press the fruit thereon toward the said deflecting brushmeans. i

A further object is to provide an open sided brushing conduit or channelhaving its top formed by brushing means, which may preferably be formedof independent members and also may preferably be verti cally iiiovablcor each member, if more than one be employed, may be vertically movable,whereby the. fruit to be brushed may enter at any point and will be heldagainst the vertical brush means forming the wall of the conduit. Thisalso insures the rotation of the fruit on all its axes insuring itsbrushing at all points.

In the accompanying drawingss-ligure l is a plan of the machine. Fig. 2is an end elevation. Fig. 3 is a side elevation. Fig. l an end elevationof ailitlereiit form of the invention. Fig. 5 is a plan of a form of theinvention wherein a plurality of deflectors are provided ope fatiiigsuccessively. Fi 6 is a plan of a form of the invention wherein thedeflector moves longitudinalhv in opposition tothe movement of thecarrier.

1 designates a frame on which are supported two drums 2, 3, whose shafts-l are mounted to rotate in bearings in the frame, one of said shaftshaving driving means suchas a pulley 5. Over these drums runs a conveyermeans 6, consisting, for example, of an apron connected to the strips orbacks T of brushes 8, said brushes extending outwai'dly 'fl'OlllillQapron or conveyer sons to the conduit 'fOI'lll a continuous brushsurface, which, atv

the top ofthe conveyer, is presented upwardly to form an upwardlyexposed brush surface on which the fruit rests and is carried forward inthe longitudinal rectilinear motion of the conveyer. Above this brushsurface are supported one or more deflector means, each consisting, forexample, of two longitudinally extending bars 10 connected by the stripsor backs ll of vertical brush means 12. said bars being pivoted orlunged at one end by pivot rod 13 to brackets ll on the frame 1 andpivoted at their other ends to rod or pin it) on a plate 20, said latehaving a slot 21 to receive fastening cite or screws 22' to fasten thedeflectors at any desired angle to the longitudinal direction of motionof the conveyer so that each deflector extends above andobliquely acrossa portion of the endless belt or conveyer,

Above the COHVQYEI are also provided upper brush means for pressing thefruit downwardly onto the conveyer brush surface and laterally towardthe deflector brush surface, said means consisting of brushes 2%supported by flexible means such as straps 26 extending over bars 2T,which rest on the supporting brackets 28 extending lat erally fromthe-bars lt). Said brushes 2% extend obliquely downward and outward. ordip away from the vertical deflector brush means 12 so that their brushsurfaces face obliquely downward and toward the deflector. Straps 26 arepinched on to bar 27 by a clamp bar-29 fastened by screws 33 and onloosening this clamp bar the straps can be slipped through to vary theangle of inclination or dip of the brushes. In order to enable verticaladjustment of these upper brushes 24, the adjusting bars 25 for bars 27are provided, with inclines 30 engaging with notches or seats 31 in saidbrackets 28, so that by longitudinal movement of the bars they can beraised or lowered, such movement being effected, for ex ample, by meansof pusher rods 32 extending from the bars 27.

34 designates chutes for feeding the fruit to the conveyer at one endthereof. -Any suitable delivery means, not shown, may be provided fortaking the fruit from the other end of the conveyer. I

3T) designates tightener means for the conveyer.

The operation is as follows :The fruit being supplied to the conveyer bythe said chutes, is carried longitudinally of the conveyer by themovement thereof, the fruit resting on the upwardly exposed brushsurfaces of the conveyer. In this longitudinal movement the fruit isbrought against the obliquely extending brush surfaces of the verticalbrush means 12, the longitudinal movement continually tending to pressthe fruit against the deflector brush surface. At the same time theupper brushes 24, rest ing on the top of the fruit and extendingobliquely, as above stated, tend to press the fruit toward the deflectorbrushes 12 as well as toward the brush conveyer surface, the fruit beingthus confined between three brush surfaces and being rolled over andover and thoroughly cleaned in all parts by the joint action'of suchbrush surfaces.

The angle of obliquity of the deflector brush surfaces to thelongitudinal motion of the conveyer may be varied or adjusted to suitdifferent conditions, by the adjusting means 21, 22. The height of theupper brushes 24 can be adjusted by sliding the adjusting bars 25 underthe supporting bars 27 thereof, as stated, so as-t-o serve for differentsizes of fruit, and the angle of dip of these brushes can be varied bslipping the straps between the members 2 29 as above stated.

Any suitable means may be used for supporting the upper brushes, saidmeans being, however, such as to yieldingly support said brushes and totend to draw the same toward the fixed deflector brush surface. bus, asshown in Fi 4, the upperbrushes 24 may be supporte by means of springsor flexible suspension means 37 connected to a supporting rod 38 andextending outwardly and downwardly therefrom to the brushes so that theweight of the brushes tends to swing them toward the fixed deflectorbrushes 12. The brushes 24 are 'connected by flexible strap means 39 soas to hold them approximately in proper relative position while allowingyielding motion thereof as the fruit passes thereunder.

In some cases it will be desirable to provide a plurality of deflectorsoperating successively. Thus in Fig. 5 are shown two deflectors 40extending longitudinally and obliquely of the carrier or conveyer means(i, said deflectors being reversely directed so that the first deflectordeflects the fruit toward one edge of the conveyer and the otherdeflector returns the fruit toward the other edge. The operative wallsof said deflectors, that is the walls which face toward the feed end ofthe conveyer, are provided with brushes 4:1 to brush the fruit as itpresses against the same, and top brushes 24 are also provided forpressing the fruit toward the brush conveyer 6 and toward the deflectors40. It is not necessary that the deflectors should be fixed, but thesame may be movable having, for example, motion in opposition to themotion of the conveyer means as shown in Fig. 6, wherein the deflector43 is mounted on rolls 44 and is operated by suitable means shown at 45to move in the direction of the arrow in opposition to the motion of theconveyer means 6, thereby increasing the rubbing action on the fruit ina given length of motion,

As the deflector extends obliquely across the conveyer, the fruit iscontinually deflected across the conveyer, by the action of thedeflector, so that it is given a lateral as well as a longitudinalrolling motion, and its rotation is irregular, bringing all partsthereof in contact with the brushes, thus insuring the thorough brushingof all parts of the fruit, and avoiding the possibility of the fruitrevolving continually on any given diameter and thus presenting only aportion of its surface to the brushing means. The conveyer is relativelywide so as to rovide for this motion of the fruit across t e conveyer aswell as longitudinally with the conveyer. It will further be noted thatthe apparatus provides for rolling contact of the fruit against threesurfaces, two of which, viz: the upper brushes and the'deflector, arefixed and bear respectively near the top of the fruit and at one sidethereof, and the other contact is with a moving surface under the bottomofthe fruit, which applies to the fruit a motion opposite a pointbetween the two points of contact with the stationary surfaces, and asthe pressure on one of these stationar surfaces, viz: the deflector, is

reater t an on the other stationary surfae, y reason of the motion ofthe conveyer ressing the fruit toward the deflector, 1t ollows that the,fruit is necessarily given the spiral or irregular rotation desired.

In my co-pending application Serial No. 356,279, filed February 1907, Ihave shown and described one embodimentof 'my invention so far as thesame relates to the provision of an open sided brushing conduit,preferably triangular in cross section and preferably having a topinclined downwardly toward the open side of the conduit and verticallymovable, particularly as this portion of my invention is applied to afruit cleaner in which the brushing and conveying surface is in the formof a horizontally rotating brush; while in this application I have shownthis feature of my invention as applied to a fruit cleaner in which thebrushing and conveying surface preferably consists of an endless belt,so that the conveying surface moves in a straight line during the travelof the fruit through the machine.

lVhat I claim is 1. A fruit cleaner comprising a-fruit conveycrconsisting of an endless belt, means for moving said conveyerlongitudinally,

and a deflector extending above a portion of said conveyer in adirection oblique to the direction of motion of such conveyer, saidconveyer having an upwardly exposed brush surface.

2. A fruit cleaner comprising a fruit conveyer consisting of an endlessbelt, means for moving said conveyer longitudinally, and a deflect-orextending above a portion of the conveyer in a direction oblique to thedirection of motion of said conveyer, said deflector having a brushsurface.

8. A fruit cleaner comprising a fruit conveyer consisting of an endlessbelt, means for moving said conveyer longitudinally, and a deflectorextending above a portion of the conveyer in a direction oblique to thedirection of motion of such conveyer, said conve er havin an n wardl exosed brush y surface, and said de ector having a brush surface.

4. A fruit cleaner comprising a fruit conveyer consisting of an endlessbelt, means for moving said conveyer longitudinally, and a deflectorextending above a port-ion of the conveyer in a direction oblique to thedirection of motion of the conveyer, said conveyer having an upwardlyexposed brush surface, and said deflector bein adjusta'bly mounted tovary its angle of obliquity to the motion of the conveyer.

5. A fruit cleaner comprising a fruitconveyer consisting of an endlessbelt, means for moving said conveyer longitudinally, and a deflectorextending above a ortion of the conveyer in .a direction oblique to thedirection of mot-ion of the conveyer, said deflector having a" brushsurface and being adjusta-hly mountedto vary its angle of obliquity tothemoti'on of the conveyer.

6. A fruit cleaner compris ng a fruit contively to saidtwo surfaces.

veyer consisting of an endless belt and having an upwardly exposed brushsurface. means for moving the conveyer longitudinally, a deflectorextending above a portion of the conveyer in a direction oblique to themotion of the conveyer. and provided with a brush surface, and prcssermeans provided with a surface facing obliquely downward from thedeflector toward the conveyer.

i'. A fruit cleaner com rising a fruit conveyer consisting of an en 7less belt. means for moving said conveyer longitudinally. a deflectorextending above a portion of the conveyer in a direction oblique to themotion of the conveyer, said deflector having a brush surface. and upperbrush means provided with a brush surface facing obliquely downward fromthe deflector toward the conveyer.

8. A fruit cleaner comprising a fruit. conveyer' consisting of ancndlessbelt having an upwardly exposed brush surface. means for movingsaid conveyer longitudinally. a deflector extending above a portion ofthe conveyer in a direction oblique to the motion of the conveyer, saiddeflector having a brush surface, and upper brush means comprising aplurality of indepemlently movable members, each provided with a brushsurface facing obliquely downward from the deflector toward theconveyer.

9. A fruit cleaner comprising an endless belt constituting a conveyerand having an upwardly presented brush surface, a deflec- Y torextending obliquely above a portion of the belt, said deflector having abrush surface, a pivot at one end of the deflector for supporting it,and-a slotted plate and a. bolt at the other end for adjusting it.

10. A fruit cleaner comprising a movable conveyer having an upwardlypresented brush surface, upper brushes above said con veyer having adownwardly presented brush surface and arranged in a direction obliqueto the direction of motion of said conveyer, and a vertically disposedbrush means extendi-n along the side of said u er brushes.

11. r fruit conveyer comprlslng a movable conveyer having an upwardlypresented brush surface, means for movingsaid conveyer lon itudinally,and a plurality of longitudinal y movable deflectors arranged side byside and extending obliquely above the conveyer and having a verticallydisposed brush surface,

12. A fruit cleaner comprising an endless belt, a vertical brushingsurface above the same and arranged at an an le thereto, an inclinedbrushing surface a jacent to and ada ted to form a conduit with saidother sur aces, and means for adjusting the inclined surface verticallyand angularly rela- 13. A'fruit cleaner comprising an endless belt, avertical brushing surface arranged diagonally above the same, aninclined brushing surface adjacent to said surfaces. and means foryieldingly holding the in clined surface toward the vertical surface.

14. A fruit x-leaner comprising a forwardly movable. horizontal brushingand cleaning surface. a vertieal brushing surface arranged diagonallabove the same. an inclined brushing surface adjacent to said twosurfaces. and springs for yieldiuglv supporting said inclined surfaceand holding it toward the vertical surface.

15. fruit cleaner comprising a forwardly movable. horizontal brushingand conveying surface. a diagonally arranged vertical brushing surfaceabove the same, an inclined brushing surface with one edge adjacent tothe vertical surface. and means for varying the angular adjustment ofthe vertical surface relatively to the line of movement of the firstmentioned surface.

It). A fruit cleaner cmnprisii'ig a fo1-.

face pivotally secured at one end so as to 5 extend diagonally abovesaid i'novable surface. means for securing the. free end of saiddiagonal surface. a viel 'ling. inclined brushing surfaee adjacent tosaid two surfaces, and adjustable means eonnected with the.

diagonal surface for supporting the inclined surface.

17. fruit cleaner comprising an endless belt a vertical brushing surfaceabove the same and arranged at an angle thereto, and a brush surfacearranged above and forming in conjunction with said movable brushingsurface and said vertical brushing surface a substantially triangularbrushing conduit extending obliquely to the n'ioveinent of said conveyersurface.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand at Los Angclesalifornia this lQtli day of March 1907.

FRED STEELE l.

in presence of- Ami] I n R. KNio l r1: FRANK L. A. GRAHAM.

